binswanger



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. BINSWANGER.

ELECTRICAL SWITCH. No. 485,028. Patented 001;. 25, 1892.

Inventor,

Gus kavfiinswa g er- (No Model.)

G. BI NSWANGER.

- ELECTRICAL SWITOH.

WkILE55E5= 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. I

PatentedOot. 25, 1892 Inven ha I' 115 tavBlnswa Lger.

111:5 at r -ney z NORRIS PETE C0,?HOT Lrmo WASHINGYON p c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAV BINSWANGER, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

ELECTRICAL SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,028, dated October 2 5, 1892. Application filed May 6, 1892 Serial No. 432,014. (No model.) Patented in England Iebrnaiy 28, 1891, No. 3,664.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GUSTAV BINSWANGER, a citizen of Great Britain, residing at London, England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electrical Switches, (for which I have obtainedapatent in Great Britain,No. 3,664, bearing date February 28, A. D. 1891,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in that form of electric-light switch in which the con-' tact-bar is pivoted. at one end and has a spring acting upon it in such a mannerthat the tension or expansion of said spring tends to keep the contact-bar in the off or broken-circuit position, the bar being maintained in the on or closed-circuit position by a rocking handle with its center of oscillation situated,preferably, above the bar, saidhandle being used to force said bar into contact with the contact plates or brushes and hold it locked in contact in opposition to the pressure of the sprin In this form of switch as heretofore made it is evident that if the contact-bar sticks to the contact plates or brushes the spring may fail to act; and the object of my present invention is to remove this defeet, which I accomplish by causing the movement of the handle not only to make a contact, but, in case of the sticking of the contact-bar, also to break contact by mechanical action independently of the sprin In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a main-circuit switch. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the switch shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a smaller switch constructed on the same principal, but differing in details of construction. Fig. 4is an elevation thereof with a cover added, the cover and the standard being in cross-section. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a double-contact switch. Fig. 6 is a side elevation thereof, one of the standards being broken away; and Fig. 7 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 8 is a transverse section of a switch in which the link is not directly jointed to the handle, but in which the mechanical action is the same as in the foregoing examples. Fig. 9 is a transverse section of a modification of the form of switch shown in Fig. 8.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the handleA of the switch is a pivoted lever connected by a link B with a pivoted contact-bar O, which when the handle is thrown into a horizontal position, thus bringing the link into a vertical position, is held down in contact with the contact plates or brushes D againstthe pressure of the spring E, which thus holds the joints tight. When the handle is moved up into the vertical position shown in the dotted lines, the contact-bar is lifted with it .out of contact with the plates. The spring assists this movement.

The switch shown in Figs. 3 and 4. differs from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 only in the fact that the handle is mounted in aball-andsocket joint, instead of being pivoted. There is also shown a cover F, inclosing the parts.

In the double switch shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 the handle and link are not connected directly with the contact-bars O C, but the link is connected with a cross-head G, which plays up and down between 4 standards H H and carries two insulating-blocks K K, which sustain the two contact-bars C 0'. Each of these bars contacts with a pair of contact plates or brushes. The spring E in this form operates in the same manner as in the fore-' going forms.

In all of these forms the handle is a lever of the firstclass-z'. a, one which has its fulcrum or rocker-axis between the knob and the joint of the handle with the link, called, for brevity, the link-joint. By the knob is meant merely the point at which the power is applied in throwing the switch. The link must be just long enough to admit of this link-jointbeing straightened out when the bar or bars are forced onto contact to close the switch, and the play of the handle should be sufficient to permit the joint when straightened out to pass beyond the straight line, thus bowing it out the other way somewhat, so that jostling or jarring cannot cause the switch to open.

In the form shown in Fig. 8 the handle is not pivoted to the link which is jointed to the contact-bar, as in the foregoing forms. The link is curved, is pivoted to the contact-bar at its lower end, andon its other end carries a stop, such as'the pin L, which passes through it transversely and projects out on both sides. The lower arm of the handle is split and straddles this link. When the handle is in position shown in full lines in Fig.8, it holds the contact-bar down on the plates. As soon as the handle is turned back sufficiently to release the bar, the spring will throw the bar out of contact; but, it it should fail to act, the bar will be lifted out of contact when the handle engages with the pin in the upper end of the link. In the form of switch shown in Fig. 9 the link is attached to the handle, but not to the contact-bar. The handle cams the contact-bar down onto the plate, as in Fig. 8. Then the handle is thrown sufficiently to release the bar, the bar is lifted out of contact with the plates by the spring E; but the link is shown as passing through a slot in the contact-bar and carries on its lower end a pin M, which when the handle is thrown far enough engages with the contactbar, and, if the bar is still in contact with the plates, lifts it out of contact.

iVithout limiting myself to the precise details shown, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In an electric switch, the combination of one or more bars, a rocking handle, and a link pivoted to both, the rocker-axis of the handle lying between its knobandits linkjoint and the length of the link admitting of the said joint being straightened out on closing the switch, substantially as described.

2. In an electrical switch, the combination of a contact-bar, a rocking handle, a cam thereon bearing upon the bar, a spring to lift the bar, and a link loosely connecting the bar and handle, substantially as described.

3. In an electrical switch, the combination of a contact-bar, a rocking handle, a cam thereon bearing upon the bar, a link attached to one of them, and a stop on the link, engaging with the other, substantially as described.

Subscribed by me, at 71 Queen Victoria Street, London, on this 25th day of April, A. D, 1892.

GUSTAV BINSWANGER.

In presence of- Joan POWELL, J OIIN TYSDALE. 

